


Etchings

by Mizushimo



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Abuse, Bad Pearl AU, Gem Corruption, Mental Coercion, Mind Control, Mindfuck, Torture, psychic torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 02:33:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5147048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mizushimo/pseuds/Mizushimo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bad Pearl makes sure that Peridot will never be able to betray the Crystal Gems.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Etchings

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Bad Pearl AU comic](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/153803) by Viscious. 



> This one shot was inspired by Viscious' terrifying and wonderful Bad Pearl Web comic  
> It's my take on what could have happened immediately after the events in the comic. This is not a Nice or Happy fic. Let me know if it needs more warnings or a different rating.

The pearl had her. Peridot's neck and head were immobilized by the pearls legs. This corrupted, defective clod—She struggled to get away, but a hand forced her chin up. She stared into her glassy blue eyes. Pearls were supposed to be pleasant, articulate and amicable, but not this one. Something had obviously gone wrong with her composition. Pearls should not have soulless eyes—. Peridot froze. She watched in growing horror as Pearl pulled a tiny weapon the size of a scalpel from the gem on her forehead. The pearl said some words in a low, husky growl, but they didn’t register in her mind. She had been here before. Vibrations in her gem filled her head with a low buzzing noise, she couldn’t look away.

“Close your eyes.” the pearl purred. The dripping point of the scalpel hovered inches away from her gem.  
“Hell no! Never! No way!” Peridot yelled out, and a found enough fight left in her body to struggle, but it was futile. She could see it so clearly now, the tiny weapon wasn’t stable, it’s form flowed and pulsed with— and energy that should have been pure white, but it was pure blackness pulled straight from this Pearl’s core. A darkness that should never have been—should not be! Peridot could only stare at the abomination for a few seconds, then she scrunched her eyes in a futile attempt escape from that grinning mouth and those hungry eyes. This pearl may look pretty on the outside, but she was rotten and twisted in her core.

“It’ll be alright, little Dot.” Pearl said, and started to giggle.

The sound sent chills down peridot’s spine, she wanted badly to scream, but this action would be inadvisable. She was their prisoner, she knew very well that she had no power here. And this pearl—-she didn’t know what would happen if she resisted in that way.  
Tap, tap, tap. Her thoughts scattered like particles of dust in a solar wind. The point of the scalpel tapped lightly on dead center of her gem. A feeling, not quite pain, but extreme discomfort radiated out from the tiny scuff mark it left behind.

“Tell me, how does it feel?”

Peridot clamped her mouth shut, she wouldn’t answer, wouldn’t give this pearl the satisfaction—.

TAP. the blow was harder this time. The point dug a little further into her gem’s structure. Something repulsive ran down the blade and faded into her gem. Peridot gasped, pain radiated out from the tiny knick. Her whole body shook, her hands and feet burned. Prickly waves of static shot from her gem all the way through her core and her limbs. Her form was solid, but she felt like she was breaking apart from the inside.  
Corruption, a thread of deep, black corruption. Panic came back at a full force and Peridot choked back a sob. It was there, inside her gem! In the sea of confusion she could feel the blackness spread out very slowly as it dissolved into her gem’s energy. Like a single drop of black dye into a pool of green—her head throbbed with a rhythm that wasn’t her own gem’s pulse. Her body was a sack of angry bugs trying to break free. Where was Peridot in all this chaos? Who was Peridot? She started to lose her sense of self.

Time passed, she didn’t know how much. Only the rhythmical scraping sound that sliced through her whole body kept her from dissolving completely. She hated it so much, the sound made her spirit cringe, she wanted to retreat back to her gem but she couldn't sense it anywhere. Finally, the torment stopped. Everything was quiet for a moment, the sharp terror-pain faded into a dull ache.

“Peridot, look.”

Her eyes snapped open and was immediately confronted with her reflection. She was pale and sweating, her eyes were so huge and haunted, Peridot barely recognized herself. She was free, but her limbs still wouldn’t work right. She tried with her last shreds of concentration to remember how to move. But it was no use, her body was exhausted.

“Look at this.” the abomination said, “Isn’t it lovely?” one of those skeletal fingers ghosted around the edges of Peridot’s gem.  
At first, there was nothing. Her gem looked as it always did, better even. Someone had buffed out all of the little scuffs and marks that had accumulated over the last few days. There was no sign of the damage she had felt, no blackness, no taint. Had she finally lost her mind?

“Closer.” the pearl whispered in her ear.

Her eyes were glued to the reflection, but she saw nothing unusual. The long finger nudged her gem, another buzzing jolt passed through her nerves, but she didn’t flinch this time.

It was a star, so faint but real. Peridot’s mind blanked. The lines of the five pointed star were just a shade different then the rest of the gem. The longer she looked the darker it became. “No,” she whispered, horrified. How was this even possible? “Gems can—can only be damaged.” This couldn’t be. “Not—stained.” This was against the rules!

The little slash in the center of her gem—of the star, was suddenly pitch black, it seemed wriggle in front of her eyes. Reflexively she tried to cover it up, but her hand stopped inches away from it’s surface. She couldn’t—didn’t want to touch her own gem.  
  
“That is Rose’s star.” Pearl said conversationally, the voice came from directly behind the mirror. She must have moved. “We wear it to show our loyalty to her.” a hand pushed the mirror down, Peridot immediately dropped her gaze, she couldn’t look at Pearl. “Now you’ll wear it too.”  
  
Peridot opened her mouth to yell, to protest, to scream, to beg, she wasn’t even sure. Her gem grew icy cold and her mouth snapped shut again. An invisible thread of blackness straighten her body up and tilted her head until she was forced to look straight into Pearl’s victorious eyes.  
“You wonder what I’ve done? You belong to Rose now, I’ve made sure of it. Unfortunately she isn’t with us anymore-” Pearl said, and smiled slowly.

_-so you’ll belong to me instead._

Pearl didn’t utter a word, but Peridot felt every syllable echo through her psyche. Her gem pulsed frantically, she could feel the corruption constrict around her life force. Pearl’s mouth was too wide, her smile was even more unsettling then her glowing eyes. Peridot tried to fight off a wave of terror, but it was too overwhelming.

“Please stop.” she instantly hated the sound of her own voice, it was so breathy and weak. She didn’t know what Pearl had done to her, or what she could do. There was nothing left except words.

Pearl said nothing for a long moment, but then she seemed to come to a conclusion. She shrugged and rose effortlessly to her feet, then walked out of the door of the workroom without another word.

Peridot’s sense of the blackness faded, but she knew it was still there, lurking somewhere in her being—twisted up inside her gem. She tried to get back to work, but her hands shook so badly that she couldn’t hold her tools. Her mind frantically searched for a way out, anything at all. Maybe Steven could help her get away, he seemed to outrank the pearl…

 _Remember, little dot—_ her thoughts scattered as the silent voice returned _—I’m always watching._ the blackness vibrated, just a little, enough to send the sound of relentless scratching of scalpel against a gem reverberating through Peridot’s psyche. Silently, she wrapped her arms around herself in a completely futile attempt to find a shred of comfort in the empty workroom.

This was it, she was trapped in hell with no way out. 


End file.
